This month we are discussing a paper published in Scientific Reports (part of the prestigious Nature group of peer-reviewed scientific journals) about how crochet may improve attention.
You can read the full paper here.
This is a study by neurologists into how crochet impacts on attentional networks. It combines brain imaging with an interesting experimental design. It is complex to read, involving a lot of neuro-speak. However, we’ve tried to summarise it in a way that hopefully makes it easy to understand the methods and findings. We have also created some diagrams to help make the process of the study clearer.
The study protocol
The diagram below illustrates the setup of the study and outlines the tasks that participants in the two different groups performed. Participants spent 6 minutes in a resting acquisition phase, which allowed researchers to complete MEG imaging while the participants were in a resting state. They then completed the Attentional Network Test (more details about what this involved below) which took about 17 minutes. Following this participants either took part in 20 minutes of crochet, or 20 minutes of “awake resting”. They then repeated the resting brain imaging phase, and the Attentional Network Test.
The Attentional Network Test
The diagram below illustrates the Attentional Network Test. Participants watch a screen to determine whether an arrow in the centre is pointing to the left or right. With a buzzer in each hand, they press left if the arrow points left, and right if the arrow points right. The key measurement is reaction time – how long it takes to press the button. Changing what is presented before (the cue) and around the stimulus affects the response time.
The cue signals that the arrow will soon appear, prompting people to become more alert and react more quickly. If the cue is also in the same location as the arrow (top or bottom of the screen) this should orient attention to the right place, and make reaction times quicker. However, if it is in the opposite location it should slow reaction times.
The way the stimulus arrow is presented is also tested – i.e. whether the surrounding arrows are facing in the same direction (congruent) or a different direction (incongruent). The incongruent condition requires the brain to notice but ignore the surrounding arrows, and this inhibitory response takes the brain a bit longer. Multiple trials (288) with different combinations of the cue and stimulus were completed. In this study participants completed the test twice, both before and after they either spent 20 minutes doing crochet, or resting. The aim of this was to test the impact of crochet on attention – by comparing test results before and after doing crochet, as well as between those who crocheted and those who did not.
Citation: Rossi Sebastiano, D., Muscio, C., Duran, D. et al. Crochet increases attention through a requiring motor skill learning. Sci Rep 15, 4141 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88777-9
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